[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fem/femwpa/2015.32.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Fiscal Policy and CO2 Emissions of New Passenger Cars in the EU

Author

Listed:
  • Reyer Gerlagh

    (Tilburg University, Netherlands)

  • Inge van den Bijgaart

    (Tilburg University, Netherlands)

  • Hans Nijland

    (PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Netherlands)

  • Thomas Michielsen

    (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, Netherlands)

Abstract
T o what extent have national fiscal policies contributed to the decarbonisation of newly sold passenger cars? We construct a simple model that generates predictions regarding the effect of fiscal policies on average CO2 emissions of new cars, and then test the model empirically. Our empirical strategy combines a diverse series of data. First, we use a large database of vehicle-specific taxes in 15 EU countries over 2001-2010 to construct a measure for the vehicle registration and annual road tax levels, and separately, for the CO2 sensitivity of these taxes. We find that for many countries the fiscal policies have become more sensitive to CO2 emissions of new cars. We then use these constructed measures to estimate the effect of fiscal policies on the CO2 emissions of the new car fleet. The increased CO2-sensitivity of registration taxes have reduced the CO2 emission intensity of the average new car by 1,3 percent, partly through an induced increase of the share of diesel-fuelled cars by 6,5 percentage points. Higher fuel taxes lead to the purchase of more fuel efficient cars, but higher annual road taxes have no or an adverse effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Reyer Gerlagh & Inge van den Bijgaart & Hans Nijland & Thomas Michielsen, 2015. "Fiscal Policy and CO2 Emissions of New Passenger Cars in the EU," Working Papers 2015.32, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.32
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://feem-media.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/NDL2015-032.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leinert, Stephan & Daly, Hannah & Hyde, Bernard & Gallachóir, Brian Ó, 2013. "Co-benefits? Not always: Quantifying the negative effect of a CO2-reducing car taxation policy on NOx emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1151-1159.
    2. Cristian Huse & Claudio Lucinda, 2014. "The Market Impact and the Cost of Environmental Policy: Evidence from the Swedish Green Car Rebate," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(578), pages 393-419, August.
    3. Mabit, Stefan L., 2014. "Vehicle type choice under the influence of a tax reform and rising fuel prices," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 32-42.
    4. Martin Achtnicht, 2012. "German car buyers’ willingness to pay to reduce CO 2 emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 679-697, August.
    5. Ryan, Lisa & Ferreira, Susana & Convery, Frank, 2009. "The impact of fiscal and other measures on new passenger car sales and CO2 emissions intensity: Evidence from Europe," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 365-374, May.
    6. Hennessy, Hugh & Tol, Richard S.J., 2011. "The impact of tax reform on new car purchases in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7059-7067.
    7. Brand, Christian & Anable, Jillian & Tran, Martino, 2013. "Accelerating the transformation to a low carbon passenger transport system: The role of car purchase taxes, feebates, road taxes and scrappage incentives in the UK," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 132-148.
    8. Klier, Thomas & Linn, Joshua, 2013. "Fuel prices and new vehicle fuel economy—Comparing the United States and Western Europe," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 280-300.
    9. Paul J. Burke, 2014. "Green Pricing in the Asia Pacific: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(3), pages 561-575, September.
    10. Ted Gayer, 2004. "The Fatality Risks of Sport-Utility Vehicles, Vans, and Pickups Relative to Cars," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 103-133, March.
    11. Grigolon, Laura & Leheyda, Nina & Verboven, Frank, 2016. "Scrapping subsidies during the financial crisis — Evidence from Europe," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 41-59.
    12. Greene, David L. & Patterson, Philip D. & Singh, Margaret & Li, Jia, 2005. "Corrigendum to "Feebates, rebates and gas-guzzler taxes: a study of incentives for increased fuel economy" [Energy Policy 33 (2005) 757-775]," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(14), pages 1901-1902, September.
    13. Yoshifumi Konishi & Meng Zhao, 2017. "Can Green Car Taxes Restore Efficiency? Evidence from the Japanese New Car Market," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(1), pages 51-87.
    14. Burke, Paul J. & Nishitateno, Shuhei, 2013. "Gasoline prices, gasoline consumption, and new-vehicle fuel economy: Evidence for a large sample of countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 363-370.
    15. Meghan R. Busse & Christopher R. Knittel & Florian Zettelmeyer, 2013. "Are Consumers Myopic? Evidence from New and Used Car Purchases," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 220-256, February.
    16. Ciccone, Alice, 2014. "Is it all about CO2 emissions? The environmental effects of a tax reform for new vehicles in Norway," Memorandum 19/2014, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    17. Klier, Thomas & Linn, Joshua, 2012. "Using Vehicle Taxes to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions Rates of New Passenger Vehicles: Evidence from France, Germany, and Sweden," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-34, Resources for the Future.
    18. White, Michelle J, 2004. "The "Arms Race" on American Roads: The Effect of Sport Utility Vehicles and Pickup Trucks on Traffic Safety," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(2), pages 333-355, October.
    19. Brookes, Leonard, 2000. "Energy efficiency fallacies revisited," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 355-366, June.
    20. Thomas Klier & Joshua Linn, 2015. "Using Taxes to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions Rates of New Passenger Vehicles: Evidence from France, Germany, and Sweden," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 212-242, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pranvera Shehaj & Martin Zagler, 2023. "Motor Vehicle Registration Taxes (MVRT) across EU countries: MNEs’ profitability and the role of market concentration," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 155-198, August.
    2. Ma, Beiling & Sharif, Arshian & Bashir, Madiha & Bashir, Muhammad Farhan, 2023. "The dynamic influence of energy consumption, fiscal policy and green innovation on environmental degradation in BRICST economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    3. Alice Ciccone & Emilia Soldani, 2021. "Stick or Carrot? Asymmetric Responses to Vehicle Registration Taxes in Norway," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(1), pages 59-94, September.
    4. Bergholt, Drago & Røisland, Øistein & Sveen, Tommy & Torvik, Ragnar, 2023. "Monetary policy when export revenues drop," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. Flintz, Joschka & Frondel, Manuel & Horvath, Marco, 2022. "Emissionswirkungen der 2021 reformierten Kfz-Steuer: Eine empirische Analyse," RWI Materialien 154, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    6. Srivastava, Abhishek & Kumar, Rajeev Ranjan & Chakraborty, Abhishek & Mateen, Arqum & Narayanamurthy, Gopalakrishnan, 2022. "Design and selection of government policies for electric vehicles adoption: A global perspective," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Orkhan Nadirov & Jana Vychytilová & Bruce Dehning, 2020. "Carbon Taxes and the Composition of New Passenger Car Sales in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-15, September.
    8. Anna Matas & José-Luis Raymond & Andrés Domínguez, 2016. "Changes in fuel economy: An analysis of the Spanish car market," Working Papers 2016/15, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    9. Lassi Ahlvik & Jørgen Juel Andersen & Jonas Hveding Hamang & Torfinn Harding, 2022. "Quantifying supply-side climate policies," Working Papers No 01/2022, Centre for Applied Macro- and Petroleum economics (CAMP), BI Norwegian Business School.
    10. Sheldon, Tamara L. & Dua, Rubal, 2021. "How responsive is Saudi new vehicle fleet fuel economy to fuel-and vehicle-price policy levers?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Ciccone, Alice, 2015. "Environmental Effects of a Vehicle Tax Reform: Empirical Evidence from Norway," Memorandum 03/2015, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    12. Martin Adler & Stefanie Peer & Tanja Sinozic, 2019. "Autonomous, Connected, Electric Shared vehicles (ACES) and public finance: an explorative analysis," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 19-005/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    13. Cong Minh Huynh, 2020. "Shadow economy and air pollution in developing Asia: what is the role of fiscal policy?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(3), pages 357-381, July.
    14. Joschka Flintz & Manuel Frondel & Marco Horvath, 2022. "Emissionswirkungen der 2021 reformierten Kfz-Steuer: Eine empirische Analyse [Emissions effects of the german vehicle tax: an empirical analysis]," AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv, Springer;Deutsche Statistische Gesellschaft - German Statistical Society, vol. 16(3), pages 255-276, December.
    15. Florian Böser & Chiara Colesanti Senni, 2020. "Emission-based Interest Rates and the Transition to a Low-carbon Economy," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 20/337, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    16. Yan, Shiyu & Eskeland, Gunnar S., 2018. "Greening the vehicle fleet: Norway's CO2-Differentiated registration tax," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 247-262.
    17. Ciccone, Alice, 2018. "Environmental effects of a vehicle tax reform: Empirical evidence from Norway," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 141-157.
    18. Shafiei, Ehsan & Davidsdottir, Brynhildur & Stefansson, Hlynur & Asgeirsson, Eyjolfur Ingi & Fazeli, Reza & Gestsson, Marías Halldór & Leaver, Jonathan, 2019. "Simulation-based appraisal of tax-induced electro-mobility promotion in Iceland and prospects for energy-economic development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    19. Florian B¨oser & Chiara Colesanti Senni, 2021. "CAROs: Climate Risk-Adjusted Refinancing Operations," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 21/354, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    20. Romeo Danielis, 2023. "Fiscal Policies on New Passenger Cars in Europe: Implications for the Competitiveness of Electric Cars," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-13, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gerlagh, Reyer & van den Bijgaart, Inge & Nijland, Hans & Michielsen, Thomas, 2015. "Fiscal Policy and CO2 Emissions of New Passenger Cars in the EU," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 202239, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    2. Reyer Gerlagh & Inge Bijgaart & Hans Nijland & Thomas Michielsen, 2018. "Fiscal Policy and $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 Emissions of New Passenger Cars in the EU," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 69(1), pages 103-134, January.
    3. van den Bijgaart, Inge, 2016. "Essays in environmental economics and policy," Other publications TiSEM 298bee2a-cb08-4173-9fe1-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Gerlagh, Reyer & van den Bijgaart, Inge & Nijland, Hans & Michielsen, Thomas, 2015. "Fiscal Policy and CO2 Emissions of New Passenger Cars in the EU," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 202239, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    5. Bergantino, Angela S. & Intini, Mario & Percoco, Marco, 2021. "New car taxation and its unintended environmental consequences," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 36-48.
    6. Yan, Shiyu & Eskeland, Gunnar S., 2018. "Greening the vehicle fleet: Norway's CO2-Differentiated registration tax," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 247-262.
    7. Kok, Robert, 2015. "Six years of CO2-based tax incentives for new passenger cars in The Netherlands: Impacts on purchasing behavior trends and CO2 effectiveness," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 137-153.
    8. Anna Alberini & Markus Bareit, 2016. "The Effect of Registration Taxes on New Car Sales and Emissions: Evidence from Switzerland," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 16/245, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    9. Ciccone, Alice, 2014. "Is it all about CO2 emissions? The environmental effects of a tax reform for new vehicles in Norway," Memorandum 19/2014, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    10. Alberini, Anna & Bareit, Markus, 2019. "The effect of registration taxes on new car sales and emissions: Evidence from Switzerland," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 96-112.
    11. Alberini, Anna & Bareit, Markus & Filippini, Massimo & Martinez-Cruz, Adan L., 2018. "The impact of emissions-based taxes on the retirement of used and inefficient vehicles: The case of Switzerland," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 234-258.
    12. Ciccone, Alice, 2018. "Environmental effects of a vehicle tax reform: Empirical evidence from Norway," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 141-157.
    13. Tesemma, Tewodros, 2023. "Encouraging adoption of fuel-efficient vehicles – A policy reform evaluation from Ethiopia," Working Papers in Economics 838, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    14. Xu, Jiayi & Tan-Soo, Jie-Sheng & Chu, Yanlai & Zhang, Xiao-Bing, 2023. "Gasoline price and fuel economy of new automobiles: Evidence from Chinese cities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    15. Davide Cerruti & Anna Alberini & Joshua Linn, 2017. "Charging Drivers by the Pound: The Effects of the UK Vehicle Tax System," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 17/271, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    16. Pyddoke, Roger & Swärdh, Jan-Erik & Algers, Staffan & Habibi, Shiva & Sedehi Zadeh, Noor, 2019. "Long-term responses to car-tax policies: distributional effects and reduced carbon emissions," Papers 2019:4, Research Programme in Transport Economics.
    17. Santos, Georgina & Behrendt, Hannah & Maconi, Laura & Shirvani, Tara & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2010. "Part I: Externalities and economic policies in road transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 2-45.
    18. Ciccone, Alice, 2015. "Environmental Effects of a Vehicle Tax Reform: Empirical Evidence from Norway," Memorandum 03/2015, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    19. Davide Cerruti & Anna Alberini & Joshua Linn, 2019. "Charging Drivers by the Pound: How Does the UK Vehicle Tax System Affect CO2 Emissions?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(1), pages 99-129, September.
    20. Fridstrøm, Lasse & Østli, Vegard, 2017. "The vehicle purchase tax as a climate policy instrument," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 168-189.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vehicle Registration Taxes; Fuel Taxes; CO2 Emissions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • L62 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Automobiles; Other Transportation Equipment; Related Parts and Equipment
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.32. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Alberto Prina Cerai (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feemmit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.